Christians are the number one target of persecution around the world, the Vatican's foreign minister says

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Christians are the number one target of persecution around the world, the Vatican's foreign minister told the UN summit on Tuesday. 'The lack of respect for religious freedom represents a threat to security and peace,' Dominique Mamberti, Vatican secretary for external relations, told the UN General Assembly. 'We are seeing an increase in intolerance for religious reasons and unfortunately we note that Christians are the religious group which suffer the most persecution because of their faith,' said the cardinal. 'The particular weight of a single religion in a country should never imply that citizens belonging to other confessions be discriminated against in social life or, worse, that violence be tolerated against them.' Mr Mamberti did not name any particular country in his speech, but Christian groups have raised concerns about deadly attacks in ...